Independent software vendors (ISVs) can allow their software products and applications to be executed and operated by end users via one or more virtual machines in a cloud network. The usage by the end users can be mapped to a Software as a Service (SaaS), whereby the ISVs can be charged a rate that can be proportional or appropriate to the amount of end user operation. The rate can be agreed to upon execution of an agreement between the ISVs and a cloud network provider that estimates the amount of resources associated with the virtual machines that will be used by the end users during operation of the products and applications. For instance, the agreement can be a subscription contract whereby the ISVs are allocated an amount of virtual machine resources and/or usage time on a periodic basis, such as, for example, monthly or annually. For further instance, the agreement can allow for the ISVs to rent time and/or resources in the cloud network on an on-demand basis, for a fee.
Situations can arise, however, whereby the actual amount of cloud network resources used by the end users in the operation of the applications varies with the amount estimated in the original agreement. In particular, an ISV can find that a certain application is being operated more, or less, than expected. As such, the ISV can be forced to pay on-demand rates for more resources, or, conversely, the ISV can be charged the rate specified in the original agreement, but which is more than what is proportional to the actual end user operation.
Therefore, it may be desirable to provide systems and methods for managing a software subscription in a cloud network. In particular, it may be desirable to scale available cloud network resources based on an actual amount of end user operation of the cloud network resources. Further, it may be desirable to modify an associated agreement between an ISV and the cloud network based on the scaling of the resources.